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Carol Lynley, 1942-2019

Carol Lynley, one of the great American (as distinct from French) “sex kittens” who became famous in the late 50’s, is gone at age 77.

“I shouldn’t have told Bob Crane I’d make a video with him.”

Lynley was featured on the cover of LIFE magazine when she was only 15. I have a copy somewhere that I can scan if I find it. That same year, 1957, Carol appeared in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that I happened to watch recently. In a strikingly assured performance directed by Robert Altman, Lynley played a precocious 17-year-old who was determined to seduce an older man, played by Vince Edwards.

The Second Best Year of Our Lives

I do a lot more e-mail than blogging. Here’s a message I sent to someone after watching a movie on TCM.

Over the years, “Till the End of Time” has been overshadowed by that other 1946 feature, with Frederick March and Myrna Loy, about the trouble vets had adjusting to civilian life. Featuring Robert Mitchum in a supporting role, the studio was pushing Navy vet Guy Madison as the star.

A quick search reveals that, to the delight of women and gay men, Guy was the original Brad Pitt, with the same sort of physique. Curiously, his character’s name in “Till… Time” is Cliff, and Pitt’s character in “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” is also named Cliff. Tarantino doesn’t make movie references by accident, so I’ll assume it was intentional.

Later, Guy looked more like an older Ken Osmond who, according to Tony Dow, is having some medical problems.

The thing that makes “Till… Time” especially notable is that it exposes a post-war “America First” movement. Sleazy guys approach the vet buddies at a bar with a pitch about their organization, saying they don’t allow “Catholics, Jews, or Negroes” while a black vet the buddies have befriended is standing right there. So if you don’t know this post-war gem, add it to your watch list!